A few months ago I interviewed writer-director John Lee Hancock about his work on The Rookie, The Alamo, The Blind Side, and Saving Mr. Banks. We also spoke about his latest film The Founder, whichstars Michael Keaton as Ray Kroc, the business man who turned McDonald’s into a world-wide brand. The film was about to come out when I first did the interview, but the release got pushed back a few months. It had a limited release in December and opened nationwide on January 20.

I recently watched The Founder, and it made enough of impression that I decided to re-release the episode. For one thing, I believe that the film was snubbed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It didn’t get a single nomination, but in my humble opinion it is at least worthy of consideration for best picture, best director, best actor, and best production design.

The film also has some striking parallels to the story of Donald Trump’s rise to power. In the concluding comments that I added for this episode, I elaborate on why I believe it is a film worthy of award consideration and why it relates to the Donald Trump story. Those comments start about 50 minutes into the episode.

Some of the topics that come up in the episode include

John’s shooting approach on The Rookie, The Alamo, The Blind Side, Saving Mr. Banks, and The Founder

How John convinced Nick Saban and other SEC football coaches to be in The Blind Side

How far some people will go in pursuit of success and the impact that has on society

Notable connection: The Blind Side features a reference to the New York Giants, my favorite NFL team. Robert D. Siegel, the writer of The Founder, also wrote Big Fan, which tells the bittersweet story of a passionate New York Giants fan, played by Patton Oswalt, who has an anguishing encounter with someone he idolizes.

John Lee Hancock is the director of films like The Rookie, The Blind Side, and Saving Mr. Banks, films that pleased both audiences and critics. One of his early hits came from writing A Perfect World, which was directed by Clint Eastwood. His upcoming film The Founder stars Michael Keaton as Ray Kroc, the business man who turned McDonald’s into a world-wide brand. Recently, the Weinstein company pushed the release of the film from August to the middle of award season, suggesting that they feel good about the film’s prospects.

John came on the podcast to talk about the film and some of his past projects.

It’s not about getting them to say yes. It’s about making it impossible for them to say no.“ – John Lee Hancock

Some of the topics we discuss include

Working with actors to trim down dialogue

The research that goes into portraying historical figures on screen

How to stay true to the essence of real people while portraying them in a dramatic way

How John convinced Nick Saban and other SEC football coaches to be in The Blind Side

The legacy of Walt Disney, and John’s experiences working with the company

Related Things

As I hint at in the episode, John’s work reminds me in some ways of the films of John Ford and George Stevens. If you want to get my take on those directors, check out the profile piece I wrote on each: John Ford and George Stevens.

Sponsor for this Episode

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